Who knows the TJB today?

[Captaindave]

The Lonely Bull AOTW discussion got me thinking again...

At age 57, having grown up back in the 1960s, having played trumpet since the age of 12 and having played Tijuana Brass music in particular for years, owning all the albums, attending concerts, and making the claim to the TJB as a personal favorite artist and musical style and sound, I will say I am a major fan and well acquainted with Herb Alpert and the TJB.

However, I do not think I am the typical, average "Joe" when it comes to this artist and music. Nor are the people who post on this forum.

My question is this...how well known is Herb Alpert and the TJB to people - let's say, under 40 years old and not of my generation - who do not fit my description of myself - or perhaps you? I do not mean the Herb Alpert of Rise fame or later - I mean the original sound and artist from the 1960s.

What do you think? Is Herb Alpert and the TJB from the sixties an artist mostly "locked in" that time? Or, do you think that today's average person knows Herb and his 1960s fame and music?

I say, for the most part, no (to the second question and yes to the first question above). IMO, people tend to be most familiar with the music of their generation, unless that person is a musician who has made a conscious effort to be otherwise informed. I think if I played a TJB song to someone say, age 35 and a non-fan, I think that person would not give much response and would be unable to identify the song or artist.

What do you think?

 

[Mike Blakesley]

You're probably right. The biggest hurdle to Herb's music staying familiar is that it's instrumental. No matter how big a hit some of those songs were, they largely don't get played on oldies stations. It's a shame.

I know Webmaster Rudy is a regular listener of XM's 60s channel - Rood, do they play any of the TJB hits outside of "This Guy's In Love With You?"

 

[toeknee4bz]

Well, I'm 39... at least for a few more months. I grew up listening to TJB through my mom's WCAOD and GP copies. As I enjoyed a great deal of popular music since age three, good behavior was rewarded by being allowed to indulge my curiosity for LPs. Along with the proper instruction, of course, on how to care for vinyl, etc.

At age seven, my family was living on the Naval Air Station in Rota, Spain. This was 1976, and I asked my parents if we had any 'Spanish' music, as we heard previously on the promenade at the Bar Playa and Avenida Sevilla. They told me "No, but here's something similar..." Of course (being that age), I did notice a drastic difference in style, but I couldn't describe it, nor would I care. Reason being: I actually liked the TJB better than the authentic European music around us! By the time we returned to the states in 1977, I had already been hooked... though none of my classmates in po-dunk Florida knew about or could care less.

Two years later, when RISE came out, they acknowledged the title track, but that was it.

Tony

 

[toeknee4bz]

Well, I'm 39... at least for a few more months. I grew up listening to TJB through my mom's WCAOD and GP copies. As I enjoyed a great deal of popular music since age three, good behavior was rewarded by being allowed to indulge my curiosity for LPs. Along with the proper instruction, of course, on how to care for vinyl, etc.

At age seven, my family was living on the Naval Air Station in Rota, Spain. This was 1976, and I asked my parents if we had any 'Spanish' music, as we heard previously on the promenade at the Bar Playa and Avenida Sevilla. They told me "No, but here's something similar..." Of course (being that age), I did notice a drastic difference in style, but I couldn't describe it, nor would I care. Reason being: I actually liked the TJB better than the authentic European music around us! By the time we returned to the states in 1977, I had already been hooked... though none of my classmates in po-dunk Florida knew about or could care less.

Two years later, when RISE came out, they acknowledged the title track, but that was it.

Tony

 

[toeknee4bz]

Don't know how, but I entered my message twice!

(Double post problem corrected by Moderator)

 

[toeknee4bz]

The loner...


Tony

 

[Mr Bill]

I think that's why we, as fans, need to help keep "the legend" alive.

My daughter had to do a report for her music class at school and since she had the lowest lottery number for picking her topic she was stuck with the last category -- "brass." She was pretty upset about not getting a hip trendy category, but once she realized what "brass" meant she made Herb Alpert and A&M a big part of her report. Thanks in large part to what she knew courtesy of her old fogey dad, Mr. Bill (that means "me" for you newbies).

She got a B+ and would've gotten an A if only her poster hadn't included a picture of a saxaphone (made of brass, but still considered a woodwind -- which wouldn't've happened had I been in San Diego with the family instead of here in Japan on the hell ship Blue Ridge)...

--Mr. Bill

 

[Mike Blakesley]

She got a B+ and would've gotten an A if only her poster hadn't included a picture of a saxaphone

If she labeled it that way, she might've gotten dinged for spelling!

 

[Mr Bill]

Ooops... I was listening to The English BEat while I posted that and EB's first sax player is named "Saxa." On the third and final LP he was replaced by Wesley Magoogan who has an A&M connection, as well, as Hazel O'Connor's sax player...

--Mr. Bill

 

[DAN BOLTON]

If you're under 40 and weren't exposed to the TJB as a child, I think it's hard to grasp the phenomenon that is the Tijuana Brass. To really appreciate the sound, there needs to be a sense of just how the TJB fits into '60's culture. The truth is that the TJB was the soundtrack for the decade...from the beginning with THE LONELY BULL(I'm one of those who use 1962 as the real beginning of the '60's...) through early Viet Nam nightmares with WHIPPED CREAM and GOING PLACES to the TV specials and THE BRASS ARE COMIN'. If you didn't live through those times, you might get a taste of the TJB's place in our heritage if you're interested in the sociology of the era; but it really comes alive if you actually lived through it all.

I think it would help our cause if Herb had been featured in the Austin Powers sountrack...


Dan

 

[Rudy]

I know Webmaster Rudy is a regular listener of XM's 60s channel - Rood, do they play any of the TJB hits outside of "This Guy's In Love With You?"

I've heard them play a couple of tracks from Whipped Cream and Going Places. In fact, I hear those more than I hear "This Guy". But I'm not a steady 60s listener, so they may play the TJB more than what I'm hearing when I tune in.

I know among people my approximate age, they may not know the Herb Alpert or TJB name, but they remember a couple of the songs, and they also remember the famous Whipped Cream album that their dads owned. So while they may not know Herb and crew by name, there's that "ear familiarity" having heard the songs at some point in the past.

 

[gameenjoyer]

Okay, I'm 25. For those of you who don't recognize my name, I'm still new here, but you'll get to know me with time. Anyway, I've always been a fan of older music. When I was growing up it was primarily oldies and classic/current country for me. Although I had a few hand-me-down TJB records from my father and enjoyed listening to them, when I entered the CD era I found it difficult to find much TJB stuff until early this year when I finally discovered the Signature Series.

As I mentioned in the topic I started, I already own most of them. I am a pretty big fan now, and, where five years ago if you had asked me who my favorite recording artist was, I would probably have said Elvis Presley, I think my tastes have changed to the point where I can honestly say he's a distant second anymore to Herb Alpert. I have a busy schedule, but whenever I scrounge up time to listen to a CD, I go for the Signature Series stack first.

As for understanding the sociology or the culture of the 1960s, I was born in 1983, so I have no clue. That doesn't mean I don't recognize good music when I hear it though, and TJB is good music. Well, their instrumental stuff anyway stuff anyway. Say what you will about "This Guy's In Love With You", but when I'm listening to my Classics, Volume 1 or Four-Sider CDs, I usually make a beeline for the skip track button when that song comes on and sometimes also for "Without Her", although I like that one a little better. "(They Long to Be) Close to You", is actually my favorite of the three pure vocal tracks, and it's the one that was never released.

I'm sorry. I digress. Point is, there are people under 40 who know and care about the brass, although I myself will admit that we are few and far between. Oh that the entire world could undstand the pinnacle of instrumental creativity that was the TJB. Truth be told, I've been very depressed/agitated about some things over the past couple weeks and TJB music has proven very effective at calming me down. Go figure.

 

[DAN BOLTON]

The TJB always calms me down, too...Herb Alpert is probably the best therapist in the world, and should have an honorary Doctorate from the American Psychiatric Association...

That's really what I was talking about in my previous post; the TJB was "escapist fare" during the '60's. When the Viet Nam war, civil rights marches and the Hippies were all just too much to deal with; anybody could turn on the record player and listen to SPANISH FLEA, TIJUANA TAXI or WHIPPED CREAM and suddenly, the world was a much brighter place. The fact that these songs still have the power to do that today is what makes them classics.


Dan

 

[toeknee4bz]

Okay, I'm 25. ... When I was growing up it was primarily oldies and classic/current country for me. Although I had a few hand-me-down TJB records from my father and enjoyed listening to them, ... As for understanding the sociology or the culture of the 1960s, I was born in 1983, so I have no clue. That doesn't mean I don't recognize good music when I hear it though, and TJB is good music. ... Point is, there are people under 40 who know and care about the brass, although I myself will admit that we are few and far between. Oh that the entire world could undstand the pinnacle of instrumental creativity that was the TJB. Truth be told, I've been very depressed/agitated about some things over the past couple weeks and TJB music has proven very effective at calming me down. Go figure.

You are indeed a rare one, at your age, to have this mindset. Most people your age wouldn't know real music if their lives depended upon it. It is refreshing to read the narrative of someone who looks back 'before their time' to find appealing entertainment. That said, I think you'll find that you're a well-respected member to this forum already. Welcome aboard!

Tony